It seems the test does assume that the cadet is going to violate the Neutral Zone to save the Kobyashi Maru. It'd be somewhat amusing to have a very officious, cautious cadet (perhaps non-human) who says, "I'm sorry. Under no circumstances will I violate the Neutral Zone," and just decides to move on, the stranded ship and its crew be damned.

This is brought up in the TOS novel "Kobayashi Maru," in which members of the Enterprise senior staff (Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Kirk) discuss how they each handled the test.
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Specifically, in the above stated novel, Sulu chhose to not violate the Neutral Zone.